Congratulations ! I purchased the Vado 4.0 (I had to have the red color). If you don’t mind sharing what type of panniers and accessories you get for the bike. I am new to commuting and shopping around online to see what is best. And what lock you can use. Thanks so much and I love the color of yours. One question - are you able to see your heart rate on the display on the bike ? I need to set that up if possible, just have quite tried it yet.
I'm a teacher and I haven't ridden it much at all so far this summer because I'm busy riding my titanium road bike for fitness. The Vado is my commuting bike and I'll be back on it as soon as school starts back up in late August. As for accessories, I have done the following modifications:
1. I swapped out the stock saddle for a Berthoud Aubisque saddle which perfectly suits the more upright position of the Vado. I'm partial to old fashioned leather saddles and have Brooks on all my other mountain and road bikes. I decided to try a Berthoud on the Vado and am very happy with it. Extremely comfortable after only about 50 miles:
https://www.renehersecycles.com/shop/components/saddles/berthoud-wide-saddle/ I have noticed that Brooks now sells a cheaper e-bike model that is not leather.
https://www.brooksengland.com/en_us/c67.html I went for the traditional leather.
2. I installed an Ortlieb E-Glow handlebar bag in black. This is a very nice waterproof bag that contains LED strips around the exterior that you can power with a small cell phone backup battery for increased nighttime visibility. And it has a cell phone window on the top. But it won't really fit the largest over-size cell phones unless you take a scissors to the entry slot. I have a normal size iPhone and have to take it out of the rubber case to put it in there so I don't bother usually. Just leave it inside the main pouch. I keep my tools, keys, gloves, and spare tube in here and anything else I might want to pull out while riding.
https://www.ortlieb.com/en_us/e-glow+F8231
3. I bought two different size Ortlieb backroller panniers. I only ride with one of them that I use mainly as a pouch to hold my work backpack with laptop and papers. The first one ended up a bit tight so I bought the bigger size one and it works better. My work backpack is an older Patagonia model with a laptop sleeve that I no longer see on their web site. It fits nicely into an Ortlieb backroller pannier so I'm not riding with the backpack on my back in the rain and grime of Portland area winters. And if I need to stop for groceries on the way home from work I can pop the backback out of the pannier and wear it on my back the rest of the way home to free up the pannier space for groceries. Ortlieb has a lot of pannier options including some high-vis ones designed for commuting. If you are going to go this route, I suggest filling up your work backpack or briefcase as you usually have it loaded and then take it to your bike shop to test-fit it into various panniers to find the most appropriate one. Ortliebs are good for this because they are basically just a big single dry-back with pannier attachments compared to many other brand panniers that have lots of accessory pockets that you don't want for this purpose. I think I bought this one first:
https://www.ortlieb.com/en_us/back-roller-urban+F5508 and then picked up a pair of these larger ones to better fit my work backpack when it is completely stuffed with gear, clothes, and lunch:
https://www.ortlieb.com/en_us/back-roller-pro-plus+F5251 I'm not actually sure of the exact models because I bought them from my local e-bike store and didn't mail order.
4. Bought a big rear view mirror which I find useful for city street commuting. The Vado does tell you when cars are approaching, but it is nice to have a rear view mirror to look back when moving out into turn lanes to make a left turn. This is the one I bought on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074T612KL/ but there are lots of other similar products out there.
5. Bought Shimano SPD pedals so I can use my regular bike shoes for commuting. I bought the Shimano model that has cleats on one side and flat surface on the other so the bike can be used with regular street shoes if I want.
https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/deorext-t8000/PD-T8000.html
6. I have a Kryptonite style u-bolt lock (it is a different brand, I forget which) and also a cable to loop around the wheels. But I almost never lock the bike. It is hanging in my suburban garage when home and I store it the back stockroom of my classroom when at work, which is a room only I have access too. On the rare occasions when I lock it I am usually stopping at the local suburban grocery store and they have big tubular u-racks right in front in full view of the self-checkout line through the window. It isn't a bike theft area because so few people actually lock bikes up there compared to urban areas like college campuses and downtown. So I assume it is relatively safe. But I'm also only doing a quick in-and-out and the bike is out of my view for minutes at best. I don't really ride anywhere where secure locking is a concern. I'm not sure what I would do if I did. I certainly wouldn't leave this bike locked all day in downtown Portland regardless of the lock.
As for heart-rate monitors? I didn't know the Vado had one. I have an apple watch which I use to check my heart rate, mostly just on a weekly basis to see what it has been when I have been working out and riding my road bike. I don't obsessively check it. I haven't ever tried to use the Vado display for that purpose and didn't know it was a feature. I mostly or entirely just use the Vado display in its generic stock setting except that I changed the "stop" screen to show current time and total distance when I am stopped at red lights and want to look down and see that information. But when I'm riding I just have the stock speed and cadence display.
